A federal appeals court in July rejected OOIDA’s request for a to rehear the case after it ruled in favor of FMCSA. That court, the U.S. court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, dismissed OOIDA’s arguments against the program, which included challenges to the qualifications of Mexican drivers and the disparity in standards they’re held to relative to U.S. drivers.
The program began its third and final year in October and recently admitted its 14th carrier, Trasco, which received authority for four drivers and seven trucks to operate beyond the commercial border zone. Applications for entrance into the program are also pending for two other carriers.
Mexico has indicated it will reinstate retaliatory tariffs if the program is disrupted, according to this year’s Department of Agriculture third-quarter report.
FMCSA said it needs 46 participating carriers to reach its target of 4,100 inspections, the number it said it needs to provide a statistically valid analysis of the participant’s safety performance.
